Coal Trade Act 1729
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1729 c. 26 |
(3 Geo. 2) C A P. XXVI.
'WHEREAS the Shipping imployed in the Coal Trade has for many Years past laboured under great Difficulties, and been in a very declining State, whereby that valuable Nursery of Seamen has been much impaired, and without some speedy Relief, will be in great danger of Ruin; and whereas by an Actof Parliament passed in the eleventh and twelfth Years of the Reign of his late Majesty King William the Third, intituled, Thames,and for the better ordering and governing the said Watermen, Wherrymen and Lightermen, upon the said River between Gravesend and Windsor, many Persons keeping Wharfs, and others dealing in Coals, are restrained from carrying the same from and to any Part of the River Thames , in their own Lighters, or other Boats; and whereas several Lightermen have exacted unlawful Premiums or Rewards for vending some Sorts of Coals in Preference to others, and have refused to make their Notes, given in Payment for the same, for Value received, and have become Crimps or Factors to the Masters of Coal Ships, at the same Time they are Buyers of Coals on their own Account, all which have been found by Experience to be greatly prejudicial to the Navigation and Coal Trade, injurious to the Publick, detrimental to the Masters and Owners of Ships imployed in that Trade and have tended to a Monopoly thereof; and whereas there have been great Abuses in the measuring of Sea Coals by many Dealers therein, whereby the fair Traders have been much injured, and the Consumers imposed on:' For Remedy whereof, and to prevent the like Evils for the future, Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after the twenty-fourth Day of June one thousand seven hundred and thirty, it shall and may be lawful to and for any Personor Persons, who now do or hereafter shall keep any Wharf or Wharfs on the RiverThames , or on any Creek or Branch thereof, and for any other Person or Persons, who now do or hereafter shall trade or deal in Coals or other Goods, to keep, use and imploy their own Lighters, Barges, and other Craft, in and for the carrying of Coals and other Goods, to and from any Ship or other Vessel, in the River Thames , and to and from any Wharf, Dock, Creek or other Place whatsoever, on or near the said River where such Goods might, before the making of this Act, be lawfully landed or shipped off, by any Lighterman or other Person, so as the Person or Persons, who shall be imployed in rowing or navigating any such Lighter, Barge or other Craft, be such as by the Laws now in Being, is or are duly qualified to row or navigate the same on the River Thames ; any Law, Statute, Usage or Custom to the contrary thereof notwithstanding.
II Lighters to be entred.
II. And be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the said twenty-fourth Day ofJune one thousand seven hundred and thirty, all and every Person or Persons (not being a Lighterman or Lightermen) who shall by Virtue of this Act become intitled to use, keep, work or imploy his, her or their own Lighter or Lighters, or other great Craft for carrying Coals or other Goods on the River Thames , shall before his, her or their so working, using or imploying the same, make or tender, before the said Company of Watermen and Lightermen, or some proper Officer, which the said Company are hereby required to appoint for this Purpose, an Entry or Entries of such their respective Lighter or Lighters or other Craft, designed to be used, kept, worked or employed as aforesaid; for each of which Entries such Officer shall receive from the Persons making such Entries, for the Use of the Company, five Shillings and no more; and thereupon such Officer shall forthwith register the same in a Book or Books to be kept by him, on the Part of the said Company for that Purpose, together with the Owner's Name or Place of Abode, and the Number or Mark intended to be affixed or described on such Lighter or Lighters, or other great Craft respectively; and after such Entry made or tendred to be made, such Owner or Owners respectively shall affix or describe, or cause or permit to be affixed or described, such Number or Mark in Metal or Colours, on the outside of the said Lighter or Lighters, or other great Craft, visible above Water when fully loaded, there to remain without Alteration (except with Consent of the Company, or in Cases of involuntary Accidents) and that until such Entry made or such Tender thereof, and such Number or Mark affixed or described thereon, such Owner or Owners shall not be intitled to use, work or imploy such his Lighter or Lighters or other great Craft, in any other Manner than he or they might lawfully do before the making of this Act; and that from and after such Entry made and registered, and such Number or Mark being affixed or described as aforesaid, such Lighter or Lighters or other great Craft, and the Owner or Owners thereof shall be subject and liable, in respect of such Entries, Registers, Numbers or Marks, to such Orders, Rules or Constitutions as are or shall be made by the said Company, in regard to the Entries, Numbers or Marks, of or on the Lighters or other great Craft, belonging to Lightermen free of the said Company, and no other.
III Buyers of Coals for Sale acting as Crimps, and Masters imploying them,
III. And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the said twenty-fourth Day ofJune one thousand seven hundred and thirty, no Lighterman or other Buyer of Coals for Sale, nor any of their Partners, Agents or Servants, or any in Trust for them, shall act as a Crimp, Agent or Factor, for any Master or Owner of any Ship or Vessel importing Coals into the Port of London ; and that every Lighterman and other Buyer of Coals for Sale, his or their Partner, Agent or Servant, who shall after the said twenty-fourth Day of June one thousand seven hundred and thirty, act as a Crimp, Agent or Factor, for selling of Coals for any Master or Owner of such Ship or Vessel, contrary to the true Intent and Meaning of this Act, shall for every such Offence forfeit and pay the Sum of two hundred Pounds; and that every Master of a Ship, who shall after the said twenty-fourth Day of June one thousand seven hundred and thirty, imploy any Lighterman or other Buyer of Coals for Sale, or his or their Partner, Agent or Servant, or any in trust for them, knowing him to be such, to be his Crimp, Agent or Factor, contrary to the true Intentand Meaning of this Act, shall for every such Offence forfeit and pay the Sum of two hundred Pounds.
IV Ann. c. 28.
'IV. And whereas in and by a Clause in an Act made in the ninth Year of the Reign of her late Majesty Queen Anne , intituled,An Act to dissolve the present, and prevent the future Combination of Coal Owners, Lightermen, Masters of Ships and others, to advance the Price of Coals in Prejudice of the Navigation, Trade and Manufactures of this Kingdom, and for the further Encouragement of the Coal Trade , it is enacted, That if any Lighterman or Lightermen, Master or Masters of Ships, Crimp, Coal Factor or other Person or Persons buying or selling or dealing in Coals, or otherwise concerned in the Coal Trade, by...
To continue reading
Request your trial